jan 1, 1973 - The Beginnings of First-Person View (FPV) Flight

Description:

Boeing and the U.S. Airforce developed the BQ-7, which operated on a crude FPV system.

Old bombers were effectively stripped of non-essential equipment and loaded with explosives. A human pilot would fly the aircraft towards the designated target. Once the target was in view, the autopilot was engaged, and the pilot bailed out of the plane. The BQ-7 would then fly to the target on its own.

The BQ-7 was virtually ineffective in war, and the pilots that bailed out had a high rate of death or capture.

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